Practical observations on the venereal disease, and on the use of mercury / By Abraham Colles.

  • Colles, Abraham, 1773-1843.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical observations on the venereal disease, and on the use of mercury / By Abraham Colles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    any, ZAR Meg COLLES ON THE VENEREAL. = | (8), 54 - “i Me - ange al memory was much impaired, and he seemed almost perfectly indif- ferent to every thing around him. I feared he was likely to fall into a state of fatuity. Sewer ae I advised that mercury should again be applied, and pushed so as quickly to induce a smart ptyalism; that then the top of the head should be rubbed with tartar-emetic ointment; and, on the subsiding of the ptyalism, that he should take strychnine. In August, 1836, I had an opportunity of learning, by a letter from Mr. Pierce, the result of this plan, and of again seeing Mr. Elcot. From Mr. Pierce’s letter I learned that ptyalism had been induced m the course of seven or eight days; that the symptoms appeared to show some improvement as soon as ptyalism was esta- blished ; that, on the subsiding of the ptyalism, he was directed to take one twelfth of a grain of strychnine three times a day, and to have tartar-emetic ointment rubbed on the top of the head; and that the effects of the strychnine were most satisfactory—a most decided improvement having taken place in his limbs, his intellects, and countenance. I must say, that I seldom enjoyed more pleasure than in seeing Mr. EK. walk into my study, and finding him give such a satisfac- tory account of the improvement in his health. Still he admitted that his urinary complaints distressed him a good deal; that he frequently suffered from incontinence of urine, although he was able to pass half a pint of urine at a time. T also learned, from his sister, that he was still inclined to remain in bed all day; and that he had a great aversion to walk, or to use any kind of exercise. On examining his abdomen, I felt the blad- der distended, and as hard as a foot-ball immediately above the pubes. I drew off the urine; and repeating the operation again, after an interval of three days, I found that the bladder had now regained the power of emptying itself completely. His sister re- marked a very decided improvement in his habits, from the day I first drew off the urine; that he walked out every day since, and remained for a considerable time in the open air each day. The three succeeding weeks he passed at the seashore, near Dublin, and he improved considerably in every respect. Since his return to the country, I find his improvement has been equally progressive; as in a letter from Mr. Pierce, of the 11th of September last, he states—“TI should have written to you before relative to Mr. Elcot, who, Iam happy to say, continues to improve in health and strength. He is, I am credibly informed, this very day attending the fair of Banaghar, which is a distance of seven- teen miles from his residence. Case 7.—John Brady,.et. 30, a publican, admitted into No. 3 ward, on the 26th of October, 1833, under the care of Mr. Colles. His right lower extremity is paralysed; the left is very weak, and bends under him; he has a sensation of coldness in it, and a stinging pain shooting up from the instep and foot. The urine flows from him involuntarily when in bed; but whenever he sits up, and tries to make water, he experiences great pain just before